Disney Cruise Line crew member accused of possessing child porn
Tirso Neri was arrested and charged with possession of child porn and transportation of child porn. (Photo: Broward County Jail)
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - A Disney Cruise Line crew member was arrested this week after he was found in possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Tirso Neri, 44, of the Philippines, was charged with possession of pornography after a December discovery of child porn on his two cellphones, the complaint said. FOX 35 has learned that Neri is no longer employed with Disney Cruise Line.
On Dec. 18, 2023, the Disney Dream cruise ship arrived at the Fort Lauderdale-Port Everglades port after visiting the Bahamas, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and special Homeland Security boarded the ship to search Neri's cabin.
9 Volusia County smoke shops busted in undercover operation
Examination and eventual forensic analysis of Neri's two phones revealed "numerous sexually explicit photographs and videos of young children whose ages could not be definitively determined," the criminal complaint said. Folders with minors' names on them filled with images dating back to 2019 were also found.
Disney Dream (Photo by Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In a post-Miranda interview with law enforcement, Neri said as a member of several Facebook Messenger and Telegram group chats, he downloads adult porn and "buys links for files that contain adult pornography," according to officials. He said he sometimes gets folders in the group chats and saves them to his phone without looking.
Florida bus driver's alleged pepper spray revenge plot causes hotel evacuation, arrest
"Neri stated that he must have received the folder in one of the chat groups and saves it into his phone without looking at it and had not deleted the folder," the complaint added.
Forensics revealed that in addition to the folder of child porn images being saved to his phone, they were viewed by the phone's user, according to law enforcement.
Neri was taken into custody on Monday and remains held at the Broward County Jail without bond before he's transferred into the custody of U.S. Marshals, arrest records show.
Arrested Orlando shooting suspect was nabbed 2 days prior for allegedly threatening trooper
Monday's arrest marks the third similar arrest this year. Alvin Gonzales, 49, and Amiel Trazo, 28, were both arrested and charged in January with felony possession of child porn, FOX News reports. They're both also from the Philippines and worked aboard the Disney Dream.